As we are near year-end, many of us take stock of times past and think of the promise of better times in the future. It is a time to think of what each of us could do to help make the next year a better one. I do feel like the end of the year is always a good time to take a step back from day-to-day life and think about all the people who have made a difference in my life. We often forget about all the people who have enabled us to get to where we are today who really believed in us, the great friends who are still with us.It is just a really rare circumstance where you truly get to know people at a level that doesn't happen in everyday life. I believe that the people we associate with as mentors and friends in life play a big part in determining the person we will become. They help form our character. That's why it is so important to surround ourselves with people who have the qualities we want to emulate in our lives. I know that i would not be the person i am today if i had not been surrounded by amazing people who taught me how to be a better person with their example. I have been incredibly blessed to befriend some that are incredibly good people. I have always wanted to have a memory that I can always look back on and to meet someone who had inspired me to be larger than life.

Received a nice X'mas gift from Mr Chia W.K this year, titled "Little Reminders Of What Matters Most"; each page filled with a simple yet powerful reminder in our daily lives.

Singapore’s One Raffles Place has gotten into the holiday spirit with the help of Doraemon this year. Or rather, dozens upon dozens of Doraemon, which have been turned into a cute and wonderful Doraemon Christmas tree, complete with Santa hats. I went to One Raffles Place Shopping Mall and took in the spectacular display of Doraemon plush toys used to create a Doraemon Christmas tree!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas, filled with all the things you ask Santa or Doraemon for!

What’s there not to love of this adorable robotic cat, Doraemon? For most of us, Doraemon symbolizes our childhood and we can’t help but feel nostalgic whenever we see him. Many of us grew up with the Doraemon manga and anime series. Originally illustrated by the manga writing team Fujiko Fujio, the series was adapted into a successful anime series and media franchise. The story revolves around a robotic cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a pre-teen boy named Nobita Nobi. I guess when you were a kid, you probably long to own one of Doraemon’s gadgets.

Despite the changes in time, Doraemon remains one of the best-selling manga in the world, with over 100 million copies sold. The stories are simple and easily relatable. The characters are iconic and unforgettable. There is really nothing not to love about Doraemon. I watched Doraemon when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s. It is a cultural and entertainment icon which is truly timeless.

Sungei Road Thieves’ Market is an original flea market in Singapore established in the 1930s and really the epitome of a flea market that sells mainly second-hand clothes, shoes, electronics, homeware, toys etc. The place will be paved over to make way for a new train station expected to be completed by 2017. That’s more than 80 years of history eradicated in one fell swoop. Even as the words “organic” and “authentic” get thrown around a lot these days, nothing in Singapore quite captures the essence of these expressions better than Sungei Road and its ragtag group of peddlers, who sell everything from stolen to broken items with questionable resale value. Another piece of Singapore’s history will soon walk into the dust.

The narrow Panglima Lane in Ipoh, which used to be known as Concubine Lane had housed opium dens, mistresses for the rich tin tycoons in the heydays of Ipoh. It could have just been another bygone residence for the townsfolk of Ipoh – most of whom were petty traders or hawkers. It is no surprise to learn that Ipoh was used as a backdrop for the French film "Indochine", starring Catherine Deneuve, about the final days of French colonial rule.

Hale Lane, Panglima Lane and Market Lane constituted the red light area of Ipoh Old Town. In Cantonese, they were known as the First, Second and Third Concubine Lanes. During the tin-mining heydays, these three lanes were where the coolies from the mines came to look for prostitutes and opium. The lanes were lined with brothels and opium dens, during an age when such activities were conducted in a less-than-discreet manner. Over time, Panglima Lane became the place where tycoons would deposit their concubines. These girls who exists solely to give rich men worldly pleasures are cloistered away from sight down this lane, visited discreetly. They did not hold any position in the men's family, and may have existed without the wives' knowledge; hence the name "Concubine Lane".I could not deny that the words "concubine lane" piqued my interest to take a look at this century old street in the old town sector of Ipoh.

Hope all of you had a great weekend! I just came back from a wonderful short getaway trip at Ipoh! I am a frequent traveller and i do have a habit of choosing some unique hotel, hostel or guesthouse whenever and wherever i can. And M Boutique Hotel overwhelmed me, tucked away in the tin mining town called Ipoh, this quaint colonial hotel have a lot to offer.

I seldom give the highest grade on any hotel as there is almost always room for improvement. Perfection is hard to achieve, but they are close. This is an exception. Here’s a hotel that places itself as one of kind in Ipoh and the first of its’ kind in Malaysia. Whenever such a testimonial pops up in one of the travel search engines or reviews, I get all revved up to experience it just to see whether it lives up to what others had viewed of it. I was very well-prepared to be awestruck. Indeed.

By far, this hotel impressed me of all the decorations and space planning, most importantly, the theme and concept. Material wise are in good quality. Professional service from staff, things are well-organized. If you are looking for gateaway location, less hazard and noise, M Boutique is an ideal place to stay with in Ipoh. The hotel interior design is so impressive that every level and rooms have different theme and unique setup. It is an ideal hotel for people who look for a different hotel staying experience.

The Singapore Memory Project (SMP) is a nationwide movement which aims to capture and document precious moments and memories related to Singapore. This project aims to collect 5 million personal memories as well as a substantial number of published materials on Singapore by 2015. These memories will enable future generations of Singaporeans to understand the collective journey of our nation and the many facets of the country we call home.

For the month of November, the SMP has hosted a series of roadshows called “KopiTimes” at selected coffeeshops around Singapore to collect the memories of the pioneer generation. The seniors got to enjoy a free cup of coffee for sharing their memories of Singapore. There’s no place like the coffeeshop for recounting great memories over a hot cup of kopi.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank National Library Board for inviting me to show support for their new campaign “KopiTimes”. I lent my support to them over the weekends last month in these memory documentation sessions with our pioneers. Having a general revival of interest in the country’s history has led me to ask critical questions about the untold past with the pioneers at the kopi sessions. Here are some stories of the old Singapore collected from the four seniors, which I have truly enjoyed listening and talking to them.

During the conversations with them, I must say that there is widespread common nostalgia for the ‘good kampong days’ among the elderly people, which, really, is ‘an intrinsic critique of the present by the ordinary people’ – of the more regulated and stressful living in present-day Singapore – and which belies a desire for ‘recovering control over daily life within the present zone of material comfort’.